Geraldine (Strickland) Deery

Geraldine Strickland Deery, 93, of Charleston, S.C., wife of the late Lawrence Brodie Deery, Sr., entered into eternal rest on July 9, 2014. Gerry passed away after a brief illness at St. Francis Hospital. She had been a resident at Horizon Bay Assisted Living Facility. Funeral services were held on July 14, 2014, at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul in downtown Charleston at 126 Coming Street. The viewing began at 11a.m., with the funeral service and burial at the church’s graveyard following promptly at noon. The Very Reverend Peet Dickinson, the Reverend Jonathan Bennett, and the Reverend Samuel Kennedy presided. Geraldine Deery was born on September 19, 1920, in Savannah, Georgia, to the late James Raul Strickland, Sr., and Ethel Bouchillon Strickland. Gerry attended Chatham High School and she had six brothers and sisters, who are all deceased. Mrs. Deery owned her own alterations and seamstress business for over fifty years. Geraldine loved animals, particularly cats, and she owned many pets during her lifetime. Gerry loved to crochet, cook, and travel with her husband of seventy-three years. Other survivors, besides her son, Lawrence B. Deery, Jr., of Charleston, include her daughter, May Deery Lofgreen and her husband, Jesse, of Austin, Texas. Grandchildren include Sherrie L. Shaw (Craig) and Cindi L. Stout (Lynn), both of Austin, Texas. The three great-grandchildren are Jessica Shaw, Cody Shaw, and Lauren Stout. Mrs. Deery has one surviving sister-in-law in Charleston, Arline Mellichamp. There are two nephews, Ernest James Deery, Jr., and Richard Russell Deery, and one niece, Rosalind Deery Grayson, all of Charleston. Gerry has one surviving sister-in-law in Savannah, Evelyn Strickland. She has a niece, Janice Strickland Aiken (Carl) of Springfield, Georgia, and one nephew, Joseph Strickland (Diane) of Richmond Hill, Georgia. The family wants to recognize Gerry’s adopted son, James Wade. The family also would like to recognize their parents’ close friend, Sandra Meacham. Geraldine Deery had been a member of the Cathedral for almost sixty years. Memorial contributions can be made to the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming Street, Charleston, SC 29403, and to Carolina Hospice, 410 Mill Street, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464. Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at www.McAlister-Smith.com. Arrangements were entrusted to McAlister-Smith Funeral Home West Ashley Chapel, 2501 Bees Ferry Road, Charleston, SC 29414, (843) 722-8371.

Service:
Private Family Service